AHO WORKS STUDIES 2011-2012
Institute of Architecture
The Full-scale Prototype
student-driven studio projects. The process
of constructing the physical building offers a
valuable insight into the many particularities
that need to be resolved before architecture
can be built. To the student, this constitutes
the beginning of a body of knowledge that is
crucial to any professional with high architec-
tural aspirations.
For the architectural research, the full-scale
prototype may serve as major tool for conduct-
ing qualified experiments. The dilemma of the
design diciplines when it comes to research, is
that the nature of design contradicts the very
core of scientific method. In science, the quali-
fied experiment represents a set of meticulously
controlled parameters that secure the possibili-
ty of control by repetition of the experiment. In
design, the parameters include some that are
quantifiable, but also some that are not, since
they rely on the subjective affinity and prefer-
ence of the designer. Subjectivity is unscientific.
By emphasising the full-scale prototype, the
experiment will produce documentation that
will be partly inconclusive, at least when dis-
cussing the more phenomenological aspects of
the design. But the permanence of the proto-
type allows the experiment to continue to exist,
giving the possibility for further examination
and interpretation. In other words, it can pro-
duce a set of finite and quantifiable conclu-
sions, as well as a framework for unquantifiable
understanding.
advanced brick structures based on principles
and methods found especially in the architec-
ture of Antoni Gaudi. Exploiting Gaudi’s sys-
tem of upside-down, hanging chainmodels, the
team developed a structure of nested catenary
curves built in brick.
This project was passed on to a team of
highly qualified engineers, who developed
mathematical models to more precisely pre-
dict the technical performance of this type of
structure. By the autumn of 2011, a new and
even more advanced design had been devel-
oped, extending the two-dimensional curves
of the first prototype into three-dimensional,
double-curved shells. A second prototype fol-
lowing the new design was constructed at AHO.
During the AHO project in Valparaiso, one
group of students supervised by Defne Sun-
guroglu Hensel and professional brick layer
Øyvind Buset built a larger and more complex
version of the first prototype. The project now
seeks further development through closer col-
laboration with the Wienerberger corporation
in Austria, and holds promise to evolve into a
major research project.
Future Development
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Based on the expe-
rience gained from these examples, it seems
obvious that the emphasis on the full-scale
prototype has the potential to provide an
experimental stage well suited to support
both advanced research projects, as well as
